The Directorate of Intelligence Revenue (DRI) officers busted two clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing labs at Hyderabad and neutralised the entire network by nabbing the mastermind and financer.  Officials of the DRI seized 24.885 kg of Mephedrone in finished form, valued at Rs. 49.77 crore in the grey market, along with in-process materials, sale proceeds of Rs. 18.90 lakh, key raw materials, machinery and vehicles used for trafficking.

Acting on the basis of specific intelligence, DRI started a swift and well-coordinated operation on 21^st Dec, 2022, and busted the two clandestine labs. Seven persons carrying out the manufacturing in these two locations were arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

In an immediate follow-up action, the mastermind and main financer of this activity was nabbed at Gorakhpur, as he was attempting to flee to Nepal with cash of Rs. 60 lakh.

Reactors and machinery used in the clandestine labs

It is pertinent to mention that some of the arrested persons are also accused in a 2016 DRI case for clandestine manufacture of 236 kg Ephedrine at Indore; a July 2022 DRI case for clandestine manufacture of 667 kg mephedrone at Yamuna Nagar; a case of escape from prison at Indore; a murder case in Hyderabad; and robberies in Vadodara. 

Freshly manufactured Mephedrone crystals

This coordinated action is in line with the exhortation of the Home Minister & Finance Minister to the officials, with emphasis on going after the big fish and catching main handlers and perpetrators/financers in drug cases.

Neutralising of the clandestine labs and apprehending of the entire drug syndicate has dealt a blow to their plans for committing nefarious activities in the wake of new year and thereafter.

This is a second such factory bust carried by DRI in the current financial year, following a similar case at Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, in July-August 2022. In this financial year alone (till November, 2022), officers of DRI have seized about 990 kg of Heroin, 88 kg of Cocaine, 10,000 Methamphetamine tablets, 2,400 liters of Phensedyl cough syrup and various other harmful NDPS substances. DRI remains committed to safeguarding the nation’s health and tackle the challenge of narco-terrorism.

Drug seizure disrupts clandestine mephedrone manufacturing network, leading to multiple arrests and dismantling of labs. A targeted intelligence-led operation dismantled two clandestine mephedrone manufacturing labs, seizing a substantial quantity of finished mephedrone, in-process materials, key raw materials, production machinery, vehicles and cash; multiple operatives were arrested and remanded, and the alleged mastermind and financer was subsequently apprehended while attempting to flee, with links to prior clandestine manufacture cases identified.